


Future Hidge Stories

by fluffy_Socks19



Series: voltron after the ending [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Future Fic, M/M, hidge-centric - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-28
Updated: 2019-02-19
Packaged: 2019-09-28 21:52:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17190965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fluffy_Socks19/pseuds/fluffy_Socks19
Summary: Seven years after the disbanding of Voltron, Hunk visits Earth to see his friends and girlfriend.I’m bad at summaries. And titles.Pidge is 22, Shiro is 32 and Hunk, Lance and Keith are 25.





	1. what if I came to space with you?

**Author's Note:**

> Go check out my Tumblr!  
> I've done some art for this fic:  
> https://o0fluffy-socks0o.tumblr.com/post/181452151252/drawings-for-a-hidge-fic-ive-almost-finished

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I really wish I didn’t have to leave you again,” Hunk said. Pidge nodded. They were in Pidge’s room at the Garrison again, Hunk was laying on her bed with his arm around her and she was resting her head on his chest. Pidge was playing with one of the buttons on his shirt.
> 
> “Well… what if you didn’t,” Pidge said it slowly. 
> 
> “What?” Hunk lifted his head so he could see her.
> 
> She looked up at him, shifting so she was lifting herself up on her forearm, “what if I came to space with you?”

Pidge was typing away at her laptop, busy grading and commenting on her student’s work. It was late and her eyes were sore from the bright light, her glasses were slowly slipping down her nose and her back was starting to ache from being bent over for so long. She leant back in her chair and pinched the bridge of her nose when her tablet started to buzz. She peeked at the name and her whole face lit up. She answered it and his caramel skin and sweet coffee-coloured eyes popped up on the screen.

“Hey Pidge.”

“Hi Hunk,” she smiled widely and rested her head on her hands.

His smile dropped and his eyebrows furrowed with worry, “did I wake you up? You look tired. Should I call you later?” 

Pidge shook her head, “no, no, no. I was just up correcting some work.” 

“Really? What time is it there?” The wrinkle between his eyebrows disappeared.

“Umm…” She leant over and looked at the clock, “it’s almost midnight.”

“Pidge!” She jumped. “Why are you up so late?”

“It’s not that late!” She protested.

“Then why do you look so tired?” He raised an eyebrow.

“It was just a long day at the Garrison,” she rubbed her eyes.

Hunk’s face softened, “should I call back tomorrow?”

“No! I’ll be fine! Really,” she put her palms out and reassured him with a smile. “Just let me-“ She picked up the tablet and carefully made her way across her room to her bed. Pidge stood on her tiptoes to maneuver through the mess that was her floor. Using the hand that wasn’t holding the tablet, she pushed the stuff on her duvet to the end of her bed. She put the tablet on the bed and moved the stack of marked papers from her pillow to the floor before climbing onto the duvet. 

She picked the tablet back up to see Hunk pulling his shirt off over his head. Her face burned as she spluttered, “H-Hunk! What-what are you doing?!” Hunk looked up at the screen.

“Getting changed, why?” His hair was tousled from his shirt and Pidge could see the scars on his shoulder and chest. He grinned, “are you embarrassed? It’s not like you haven’t seen me naked before.” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

“Shut up!” She buried her face in her hands.

“Pidge~” She heard him say, but refused to look up, “you can look up now if you want to see me without anything on.”

She groaned, “I hate you,” he laughed.

“I love you too. I’m dressed now, by the way. I promise,” he added when she didn’t look up. She looked up and, true to his word, Hunk was sitting back in front of the screen, fully dressed. He had a smirk on his face.

She scowled, “I wish you were here so I could wipe that stupid look off your face.”

Hunk’s face softened into loving smile, “soon you’ll able to.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m coming to earth.” Pidge’s eyes widened and her jaw dropped.

“You are?! But-but I thought you were still trying to recruit more planets to the coalition?” 

Hunk grinned and shook his head, “my chefs can do that without me for a couple weeks while I visit Earth.” 

“Oh, Hunk! That’s amazing!” A huge grin spread across her face and she clasped her hands together, “when are you coming?”

“In about three weeks. I didn’t tell you sooner because I know how much you hate waiting.” 

Pidge laughed, ”you know me so well,“ Hunk chuckled. She sighed happily and grabbed a pen from the end of her bed and made a note on her calendar. As she put the pen back down she yawned.

“I should let you sleep, I’m keeping you up,” Hunk said. Pidge started to shake her head but he stopped her, “you can call me as soon as you wake up, as long as you go to sleep now. Deal?”

Pidge smiled and gazed lovingly at him, “deal.”

He nodded once, “good. I love you, sweet dreams.”

“Goodnight, I love you too.” She smiled and hung up before placing the tablet on the ground and curling up to sleep.

—————

Pidge jumped awake, falling out of bed in the process and landing on the floor with loud thump. She groaned as the alarm blared in her ears, sitting up on her knees and rubbing her eyes. She reached up and flicked off the alarm. She ran a hand through her hair and sat back against her bed. She stared at the wall for a few moments as she woke up fully before her eyes widened and she jumped up. She grabbed her phone off her bedside table and quickly checked the date. Thursday, 20 December. A smile spread across her face.

She jumped up and hurried into her bathroom, stripping down and getting into the shower. She washed her hair and shaved before jumping out and drying herself off with a fluffy towel. She changed into a black skirt, striped stockings, a grey shirt and dark green sweater before checking the outfit in the mirror. She changed from the skirt into black shorts and then the sweater into a jacket with a hood before changing her mind again and settling for jeans and a long-sleeve, dark green top. Happy with her outfit, she headed back into the bathroom where she brushed her hair dry and changed her earrings from studs to sleepers.

She slid a pair of sneakers and her lab coat on and left her room. She walked down the halls of the Atlas until she reached the observation deck, Shiro and Curtis were already there when she walked in. They turned to her when she walked in.

“Morning Pidge,” Shiro nodded to her.

She smiled, “Hey Shiro, hey Curtis.” The other man waved before turning back to his screen. 

“All dressed up, huh?” Shiro smirked when Pidge blushed. “Come over here, we’re tracking the ship Hunk’s using to come to Earth.” He pointed to a screen and Pidge peeked at it. “He should be here in about an hour.” Pidge nodded. 

—————

The wind from the ship’s jets blew Pidge’s hair into her face. She spat some hair out of her mouth and used a hand to push her fringe away from her eyes. She clasped her hands together as butterflies swarmed in her stomach. She didn’t know why she was nervous- this was Hunk for crying out loud! She swallowed as the ship landed and the engine turned off. Lance’s hand squeezed her shoulder and she looked up at him. He grinned and she smiled back before turning back to the ship.

A few of the Atlas crew had come up to the landed ship and a couple were by the door when it opened. When Hunk came out- in his old paladin armour, smiling anxiously at the crew- all of Pidge’s nerves melted away. She cried out his name and he looked over, his face lit up when he saw her and she burst into a sprint towards him. She leapt into his already outstretched arms and buried her face in his neck. She felt his arms squeeze around her and she hugged him back for a few more moments before pulling back and pressing her lips against his, cupping his face with her hands. She pulled back and smiled lovingly at him and he smiled back just as lovingly. His smile dropped.

“Pidge, why are you crying?” She lifted a hand to her face and, sure enough, tears were running down her cheeks.

“I… I don’t know,” it was suddenly the funniest thing in the world and she burst out laughing. Hunk joined in and as their chuckling died down, he pressed his forehead against Pidge’s.

He sighed happily, “I missed you…”

“I missed you too…”

“Hey! Lovebirds! Can we say hi too?” Lance called out. Pidge really didn’t want to leave Hunk’s arms, but she reluctantly slid her arms out from his face and he put her down after stealing a quick kiss. Pidge and Hunk headed over to Lance and Shiro, Hunk had a huge grin on his face.

—————

Pidge handed the mug to Hunk. He took a sip and moaned.

“God, I missed coffee. Nothing in space compares.” He took a few more quick sips as the drink was still scalding hot.

Pidge leaned against the counter, “really? You’d think there’d be something close to it.”

Hunk shook his head, “nope. Well, there is, but it’s not the same…” He trailed off as he took a mouthful. Pidge took a long drink of her own cup. 

“...Anything else that’s not the same in space?” Pidge asked.

Hunk hummed, thinking as he took a slow and long sip. “Coconut and mint are really hard to recreate.” Pidge’s eyebrows raised. Hunk chuckled, “I know, they’re pretty random flavours but whenever I try to make them they’re always not quite the same. Like, we went to this planet and they have something that smells exactly like coconut, but it tasted nothing like it. And I told Romelle and Coran about the mint and they showed me something that was similar but it didn’t have mint’s spiciness and-” He cut himself off, “I’m rambling. Sorry,” he looked away as he took another sip.

Pidge shook her head and placed a hand on Hunk’s arm, “I love it when you ramble on about stuff. I missed your rambling, actually.” She put her finished cup of coffee down on the bench and rested her head on Hunk’s bicep- she still wasn’t tall enough to reach his shoulder. Hunk put his mug down and wrapped an arm around Pidge, pulling her towards his chest. She slid her arms around his neck and he leant down as she stood on her tiptoes to kiss each other. 

Someone cleared their throat and they jumped apart. Shiro smirked and Pidge grabbed Hunk’s hand, pulling him along as she ran out of the room and down the hallways, both of them giggling loudly.

—————

 

They spent the first three days at the garrison together and, even though they hadn’t seen each other in person for almost six months, it was like Hunk had never left Earth. On Christmas Eve they stayed at Hunk’s parents’ house and they spent Christmas night at Pidge’s parents’ place. The day after Christmas, they met up with Lance and Shiro- they were even able to talk with Keith, Coran and Romelle through a video call. 

The students at the Garrison had a few weeks off for Christmas, so Pidge had no classes to teach. But, when the students came back for classes, so did Pidge.

“You know you don’t have to come. You could go hang out with Lance or something,” Pidge said as she pulled her lab coat on. 

Hunk shook his head, “I want to come. It’ll be nice to see a Garrison classroom again.” He smiled.

Pidge sighed, “are you sure?”

“Yes!” He slid an arm around her waist and kissed her. “Come on, shouldn’t the teachers get there before their students?” Pidge giggled and they left her room.

—————

Pidge was perched on the end of her desk, talking with Hunk about something as her students slowly made their way to her classroom. The bell rang and she hopped off the table. She opened her mouth to say something to her class when a student came running in.

Pidge looked at her watch, “23 seconds late. Getting better Kane.” The boy laughed nervously as he made his way to his seat. Pidge turned back to the class. “Welcome back everyone. I bet you’re all so excited to be back in the classroom,” she sarcastically said and more than half of the class groaned. “Now, I bet you’re all wondering who this is.” She gestured to Hunk. “You’ve all met Lance, this is the other leg of Voltron, Hunk. He is- was the paladin of the yellow lion.” Hunk smiled nervously and waved. Instantly, a dozen kids put their hands up. Pidge waved them down, “you can ask him questions later, he’s here to help. Before that, we need to get started…”

—————

Her students loved Hunk, just as Pidge knew they would. They asked him thousands of questions, some of them a little personal, like when a kid asked him if he was dating anyone and Pidge had to explain that she was in fact his girlfriend, which started another whole round of questions. 

To say Pidge was relieved when the bell rang would be an understatement. Hunk seemed pretty worn out as well but, luckily, Pidge had a flight simulation class next, so neither of them would have to suffer any more questions. When Hunk and Pidge came out of that class, the news that they were dating had obviously been spread, as every student seemed to know.

Shiro commented on it during lunch. “All the students are gossiping about you two dating.” Pidge smacked her head on the table and Hunk covered his face with his hands, groaning.

—————

A week later, it was Hunk’s birthday, the 13th of January. Pidge somehow managed to convince Hunk that she had a lot of work to do and that he should spend the day with Lance and Shiro and she’d meet them somewhere when she was finished. What she was actually doing was picking up a secret person and catching the train to Hunk’s parents’ house and helping them set it up for his surprise party. She helped them hang up the streamers and blow up the balloons. She even tried to help Hana- Hunk’s mother -bake a banana cake, but she was more a nuisance than a helper. The guests- Sam, Colleen, Matt, Iverson, Kinkade, Rizavi, Leifsdottir, Griffin, Shay and Rax- arrived and helped finish the house.

When they were finished, Pidge texted Lance to tell him they were finished and to bring Hunk. With those instructions sent, Hunk’s parents, Pidge, the guests and secret guest all hid. She heard the car drive up to the house and stop outside. The car doors opened and shut. She heard Hunk’s voice.

“Why did you bring me to my parent’s place again? Wait, why do you have a key?” The door unlocked and Lance walked in, Hunk following and Shiro last, closing the door behind him. Lance switched on the light and they all jumped out.

“Surprise!” Everyone cried simultaneously.

Hunk had jumped back, a hand clutching the fabric where his heart was. “Quiznak! Oh my god. Guys! Is this a surprise party?” Lance chuckled, nodding. “Aww, guys! You shouldn't have!” 

“Well, we did. Now, let’s get this party started!” Rizavi yelled, blasting music from her speaker. Lance grabbed a party hat snapped it onto Hunk’s head before grabbing a kazoo and playing it as loudly as he could. 

—————

Pidge wove through the group of people. Even though there wasn’t that many people, the house was small and made it feel like a lot more people were there. She finally found Hunk in the kitchen talking with Lance and the secret guest. It was Keith. He was able to come to Earth for a few days for Hunk’s birthday. 

Pidge tapped Hunk on the shoulder and he turned around. “Hmm? Oh, hey Pidge,” he leant down and they shared a quick kiss.

“It’s almost present time,” she grinned.

“You know, Pidge was the one who organised the party,” Lance gestured to her with his drink.

“Aww, thanks honey,” Hunk slid his arm around her waist and kissed her cheek. 

She laughed, “you make it sound like we’re married when you call me that. Come on, present time.” She dragged him along into the living room and onto the couch, telling people along the way to come to the living room. She sat him down on the couch and called people over. 

From his parents, Hunk got a Polaroid camera; Rizavi and Leifsdottir got him a new apron; from Shay and Rax, he got a tiny Balmera crystal on a thin chain, which he put on over his head; from Lance, he got an photo album full of photos taken during their time as paladins (all five of them got a little teary-eyed as they looked through it); Shiro and Keith got him a set of cooking knives; he got a plant pot that was in the shape of the Yellow lion with small yellow flowers already planted from Pidge’s parents and brother; Kinkade and Griffin gave him a copy of the ‘documentary’ they made years ago and Pidge gave him a small lion made out of metal that would do a few tricks by voice command.

Hana brought the cake out and everybody started to sing ‘Happy Birthday’. Hunk blew out the candles and was handed a knife. 

“Don’t touch the bottom, you’ll have to kiss the nearest girl,” Lance teased. So Hunk purposely touched the bottom as he cut it and turned to Pidge, who was sitting next to him. He kissed her and then turned back to the cake, cutting it into pieces and passing a plate of cake to everyone.

—————

“I really wish I didn’t have to leave you again,” Hunk said. Pidge nodded. They were in Pidge’s room at the Garrison again, Hunk was laying on her bed with his arm around her and she was resting her head on his chest. Pidge was playing with one of the buttons on his shirt.

“Well… what if you didn’t,” Pidge said it slowly. 

“What?” Hunk lifted his head so he could see her.

She looked up at him, shifting so she was lifting herself up on her forearm, “what if I came to space with you?”

Hunk blinked a couple times at her, “but... what about the Garrison? You teach here.”

Pidge bit her lip and looked back at the button, “well, the Garrison is sending a group of students out to space to other planets to learn about them and their cultures and they need someone who is willing to take them out and knows about the planets and their… cultures… And I thought that if I did that then I could stay with you and still be helping the Garrison.” 

Hunk’s arms tightened around her and he buried his face in her chest, “I love you.”

Pidge threaded her fingers into his hair, “is that a yes?”

He chuckled and lifted his head, pressing his lips against hers. “Yes! Of course!” She started giggling and pressed her forehead against his.

“I’d better go tell Shiro then,” Pidge kissed him once more before getting up and out of bed. Hunk smiled and gazed lovingly at her as he rested his head on his hand. She opened the door and looked back at him over her shoulder, “you coming?”

He got up out of bed, “yep.” She giggled and together they made their way to the observation deck.


	2. i'd fight in a hundred more wars if i got to spend my life with you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She smiled up at him, “I'd fight in a hundred more wars if I got to spend my life with you.” She smiled widely and squeezed his hands and Hunk felt his eyes sting with tears, which he blinked away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This happens a year and a half after the first chapter!
> 
> There's some swearing and some suggestive things in this so maybe don't read to the end if you don't like that.
> 
> And some names:
> 
> Nova- Matt's mysterious alien girlfriend that I'm pretty sure they didn't name.  
> Hana- Hunk's mother. (Still salty they didn't name her) (this is a really popular name for her too)
> 
> Also, I haven't been to a wedding since I was seven and I was a flower girl so I was basically just focusing on how much my feet hurt in my shoes rather than the wedding. Most of what I know is from movies and the Twilight series. So if I get anything wrong, sorry! Feel free to correct me! I also think that the speeches are out of order.
> 
> (Btw, the story Matt tells about Pidge as a newborn is what happened with me and my younger brother)

_“Hunk! It's amazing!” Pidge cried, looking at herself into the robot's chest plate._

_Hunk grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck, “it's nothing! Here,” he passed her a small remote, “this is it's remote.” Pidge grinned widely, grabbing the remote and instantly pressing the green button. The chest plate lit up and the screen showed a small loding symbol before a little face came up. Pidge made a small excited noise before pressing another button, the robot spun around before making a happy noise and throwing it's arms out. Pidge giggled and Hunk leaned close to her ear._

_“Press that one,” he pointed to a button and moved away from her. She pressed the button and waited excitedly for the robot to move. The robot brought it's arms back in and a small pannel opened just under the screen. A metal claw came out with a tiny circle in it's ‘fingers’._

_“What? It's a ring.” Pidge turned to Hunk to see him kneeling down. Her eyes widened, “Hunk?”_

_He gazed lovingly up at her, “Pidge. I love you _so much_ , I want to spend every moment of my life with you...” He looked away and blushed, biting his lip before looking shyly at her through his lashes. “Will you marry me?” _

_Her eyes widened even further and her jaw dropped, then a smile broke out on her face and tears formed in her eyes, ”yes, yes, yes! A thousand times yes!” She jumped into his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck. She peppered kisses all over his face as he laughed before kissing his lips. She pulled away and he stood up, picking up the ring and slipping it onto her finger. She gazed at the green gem in the gold band and jumped into Hunk's arms again. She pressed their lips together again._  
  
———

__

__

_“Come on! It's your last night out as a free man!” Lance said, throwing his arm around Hunk's shoulders and trying to drag him away._

__

__

_“Free man?” Hunk didn't move._

__

__

_Keith rolled his eyes, “yes!” He grabbed his arms and tugged him along._

__

__

_Pidge waved him away, “go! Have fun~”_

__

__

_Shiro grinned, “it'll be fine, I'm supervising you three.” Hunk bit his lip before sighing and letting them drag him away._

__

__

_Lance winked at Pidge, “we'll make sure he's back before curfew,” she laughed and waved them out the door._

__

__

_“See you tomorrow!” Pidge blew a kiss to Hunk who was being pushed towards Keith's truck. He waved before climbing into the back of the car._

__

———

__

__

_Pidge heard a car drive up the driveway and heard the engine stop. The doors opened and closed and she heard loud, drunken singing. Keys fumbled in the front door and she snuggled deeper into her bed. The door flew open, banging on the wall and she heard the singing come down the hall, now only one voice instead of three. The car outside started up again and drove away. The singing drunk stumbled down the hall, bumping into the walls a few times. The singing stopped as the footsteps reached her door. Her door slowly creaked open and Hunk's voice called out._

__

__

_“Pidge~” he almost seemed to purr, “are you awake?”_

__

__

_She groaned and sat up, “I am now.”_

__

__

_She heard Hunk giggle and saw his outline come closer. He crawled onto the bed and nuzzled her neck. Pidge could smell the alcohol on his breath, “you wanna cuddle?” He asked, his words slurring._

__

__

_She slid her hand in his dark hair and slowly stroked his cheek as she laid them down. “No. Let's go to sleep.”_

__

_“Let's cuddle,” Hunk insisted, though he was already falling asleep._

__

———

__

The sun shone down onto the rows of white chairs where the guests were sitting and the green and yellow flowers tht were woven around the alter. The guests were quietly chatting while the groom was silently panicking. Hunk swallowed nervously as he waited for the music to begin. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked down at Lance.

__

“Calm down, she's coming,” he murmured, trying to soothe his taller friend.

__

“I know, but, what if she doesn't?” He hissed back, shifting his weight from one leg to the other. 

__

“She will.” Lance insisted, clapping him on the back and going back to his place next to Keith and Shiro. Hunk smiled at him gratefully and looked back at the other end of the asile. Butterflies filled his stomach as he twiddled his thumbs. He almost jumped when the music started and all of the people they had invited turned to look down at the start of the asile and standing up. Rizavi, Leifsdottir and Romelle walked down the white carpet in matching light green dresses, Romelle was clearly overjoyed to be involved in this human ritual. Romelle had a basket of yellow and green petals that she was gently tossing onto the grass and carpet and Rizavi and Leifsdottir had a small bouquets of flowers the same colour as the petals fluttering down. 

__

Then Pidge came in on the arm of her father, Sam Holt, and all time seemed to stop. Hunk's breath caught in his throat as he took her in. All worries and anxiety melted away as she met his gaze, looking equally excited and in awe as he did. She was wearing a white lace dress with a long trail. The dress had a sweetheart neckline that showed off her pale, freckled shoulders and lace sleeves that ran from the middle of her upper arms down to her middle finger. The dress hugged her form down to her hips, where the skirt flared out. The ends of her short hair had been curled and it was tucked behind her ears. Her makeup was minimal but effective, there was a gold, shimmery eyeshadow on the lids of her eyes and mascara on her eyelashes that made her eyes look huge. She only had a small wing and was wearing a light pink, almost tan, lipstick. Her freckles were showing through the little bit of rouge she had on. Okay, maybe it wasn't _all_ rouge, but, nonetheless, she looked beautiful and Hunk felt his cheeks warm as he watched her walk down the asile with Sam.

__

Sam walked up to them and placed Pidge's hand in Hunk's, smiling at both of them before making his way to his own wife, Colleen Holt. Hunk looked down at Pidge lovingly, Pidge gazing just as lovingly at him. The wedding went by in a blurr to Hunk, the priest words merging into background noise as he and Pidge locked eyes. Pidge said her vows first:

__

“Hunk, the paladin of the yellow lion, the mechanic of my garrison group, the love of my life,” she giggled nervously, “I can't believe this is actually happening,” they both chuckled, “I can still remember falling in love with you, slowly and then all at once. I'll never forget those nights we spent just working on stupid projects or those times you tried to get me to cook or try your new dishes,“ she smiled up at him, “I'd fight in a hundred more wars if I got to spend my life with you.” She smiled widely and squeezed his hands and Hunk felt his eyes sting with tears, which he blinked away.

__

“Katie Holt,” he chuckled and wiped his eyes with the heel of his palm, “I can't believe I ever thought you were a boy,” she giggled. He sighed happily, “I love you so much. I fell in love with you at the garrison. Fell head-over-heels for your determination, your intelligence, your humor and stupid puns-“

__

“Hey! Yours are worse!” Pidge protested jokingly and they both chuckled, the people in the church also laughing quietly.

__

“Okay, okay, maybe not your _puns_ but I did fall in love with you. I’d search the _whole of space_ for you because... I love you... and I need you,” he murmured the last part of quietly only Pidge could hear. She blushed and smiled. Hunk only half listened to the priest, he said, “I do,” and then mostly zoned out, only coming back when Pidge glanced away.

__

“...I now pronounce you Mr and Mrs Garrett-Holt! You may now kiss the bride,” the priest said and Pidge leapt into his arms, pressing her lips against his for a long kiss. Hunk heard cheering, but didn't pay any attention to it as Pidge kissed him. She pulled away and pecked him on the lips once more before sliding down. They linked hands and grinned as they ran down the asile and out the doors. 

__

———

__

Pidge flung the bouquet over her shoulder as the group of women dove for the flowers. It landed in Nova's arms, who was calmly standing just away from the group of unwed women. She glanced at it and then at Matt and then back at the flowers before grinning at him, Matt just stuffed his hands in his pockets and pretended not to see it. Pidge laughed and felt an arm slide around her waist. She turned to her husband- _god_ , it felt weird to think of him like that -and stood on her tiptoes to peck his lips.

__

People started to walk off the dance floor as the music started. Pidge slid her arms around Hunk's neck as he wrapped his arms around her waist. They swayed with the music, slowly making their way around the dance floor in a large circle.

__

“You look so beautiful,” Hunk murmured, bring a hand up to gently brush a stray piece of hair behind Pidge's ear. She blushed.

__

“You don't look too bad yourself,” she grinned and Hunk chuckled. When Pidge had seen him standing at the end of the asile, in his yellow waistcoat and black suit, she'd stopped. Literally. Sam had to tug on her arm to get her moving again. She didn't look away from Hunk's face, his eyes wide and mouth slightly open in awe, when Sam slid her tiny hand into Hunk's much larger one. Or when she said her vows, she did look away for a moment when they were slipping their rings onto eachother's fingers. She was wearing a silver ring and Hunk was wearing a gold one.

__

He spun her around and she giggled, her skirts flying up as she twirled around. She bumped into his chest with a small ‘oof’ and he chuckled and started to twirl a strand of her hair around his finger, playing with it subconsciously. She hummed happily and rested her cheek on his chest, closing her eyes. The song ended and they pulled apart as the crowd cheered. She felt someone tap her shoulder and turned to see Sam. 

__

“May I have this dance?” He asked, holding out a hand for Pidge.

__

“I don't know, you'll have to ask my _husband_ ,” she smiled.

__

“Heh, I think Mum's coming to drag me away,” he was looking over Pidge's head so she turned to see Hunk's mother, Hana, walking towards them.

__

“Hey you two! Katie, can I steal Hunk for a dance?” She grinned.

__

Pidge laughed, “steal away! I was going to go with Dad anyway,” she linked arms with Sam. She laughed again when Hunk mouthed ‘help me’ as his mother pulled him away. She turned to her father as the next song started. As more people came onto the dance floor, Pidge saw Lance dragging Keith out to dance in the corner of her eye. She smiled up at Sam and placed her hand on his shoulder, “having fun?” She grinned. 

__

“It matters more if you are having fun, this day’s about you!” Sam put one hand on her hip and held her hand with the other. 

__

Pidge looked across the room at Hunk, blushing lightly, “today's about Hunk as well,” she looked back up at Sam, “besides, I'm not used to having all this attention, I feel like everyone is staring at me...” 

__

Her father laughed and squeezed her hand, “I felt the exact way at your mother and my wedding.”

__

“Were you nervous?” Pidge asked curiously.

__

Sam nodded, “of course! I was terrified that she wouldn't show up, actually. But then your mother walked in and-” he sighed happily and looked over to where Colleen was sitting- “I knew she would never stand me up. “ He smiled lovingly over at his wife.

__

Pidge smiled as they slowly spun to the beat of the song. They passed Lance- who was trying to teach Keith how to slow dance. Pidge laughed at Keith's awful tries and earned herself a glare. She spotted Hunk who looked very uncomfortable with whatever his mother was talking to him about. They locked eyes and shared a silent conversation. As Pidge and Sam passed Hunk and his mother, the two newlyweds swapped partners during a spin. 

__

Hana blinked a few times in confusion before looking down at Pidge in surprise, “oh! You're not my son...”

__

Pidge laughed, “definitely not.”

__

Hana joined in laughing as she took the lead and spun them both around. Pidge heard a yelp and looked over to Lance and Keith again. Keith was apologising profusely while Lance was just laughing it off, clutching his foot. Pidge rolled her eyes and gently shook her head. Hana noticed the boy's as well.

“You know, Hunk used to be that bad,“ Hana smiled as she remembered fond memories of her son.

Pidge nodded, “we had to learn how to slow dance at the garrison for a graduation event thingy. Lance was his partner,” she chuckled, “after every lesson Lance complained about Hunk had _‘most certainly broken every single bone in his toes’_ ,” Pidge tried her hardest to copy Lance's dramatic voice, even going as far as closing her eyes and placing th back of her hand on her forehead. Hana laughed, covering her mouth with her hand.

Pidge looked across the room to Hunk. He was grinning at something Sam was saying. Pidge managed to catch his eye as a new song started and they nodded to eachother. Pidge grabbed Hana's hands and took the lead, pulling Hana into a tight spin. They passed Lance and Keith and Pidge let go of Hana's hands, quickly grabbing Keith's and pulling him away from Lance. He squawked in surprise as she spun them away. She saw Lance standing by Hana, both of them were still with surprise before they looked at eachother and burst into laughter, Hana putting her hands onto Lance's shoulders and leading him into a dance. Pidge looked back at Hunk and saw he had swapped Sam for Matt, leaving Pidge's father with Nova.

After Pidge and Hunk swapped partners a few more times, the other guests started to catch on and Lance snuck off to change the slow song to some sort of line dance song. Pidge was dancing with Rizavi when he changed it and they both threw their heads back in laughter. The dance floor slowly morphed into a circle-line dance with everyone doing all different dance, meaning people bumped and stumbled into eachother, but everyone was laughing and enjoying themselves, even Keith had managed to work it out. Pidge laughed as she spun from partner to partner, lifting her skirt up with her hands so she wouldn't trip on it. She spun into Hunk's arms as the song ended. She giggled and threw her arms around his neck, mashing their lips together. She pulled away and grabbed Hunk's hand, dragging him off the dance floor to their table.

She laughed giddily as they sat down, moving her chair closer to his and placing her hand on his chest. He leaned down and She tilted her head so they could kiss. 

———

Hunk laughed as Pidge tried to handfeed him a fork full of wedding cake.

“Come on! They do this at every wedding, we _have to_ do it! Now, say ‘ahh’,” Pidge leaned in closer with the fork. He rolled his eyes, but opened his mouth, making an obnoxious ‘ahh’ noise. She fed it to him and he hummed happily. “Good?” She asked.

He nodded, “Sal and Shay did a good job with the peanut butter flavour.” He picked up his fork and scooped a piece of the cake on it, feeding it to Pidge. “See?”

She nodded and covered her mouth with her hand as she spoke with her mouth full, “it's good!”

Across the table from them, Matt stood up and clinked his glass with his fork, getting everyone's attention. He cleared his throat, “hello everyone. If you don't know me, my name's Matt. I'm the famous brother of the bride,” he motioned with his glass to Pidge. “I wanted to congratulate you two and thank you for organising this amazing wedding. I know how awful organising weddings can be- Pidge, you’re lucky you weren't born when Mum and Dad were planning theirs, I know how hard it was for them, and I was only four!” This got a few chuckles, mostly from Sam and Colleen and family members. “I still remember the day you were born, I mean, how could I forget- I got to leave school early,” a few laughs, “yep. Nonna came to the classroom and took me straight to the hospital. Mum handed me you and you were so tiny! I guess that didn't change,” Pidge glared at him and Hunk snickered behind his hand, earning himself a glare from her as well. “Anyway, you had your eyes closed when Mum gave you to me and then as soon as I was holding you properly, you opened one eye and gave me the sweetest look,” cue a chorus of ‘aw’s and cooing. “I hope my niece or nephew gives me the same look,” both Pidge and Hunk froze making most of the guests laugh.

“You know, Hunk, I had this whole ‘big brother’ act and speech planned out for when Pidge finally brought a boy home and of course she had to choose a guy who not only knew not to hurt her, but was too scared to.” Hunk blushed and Pidge kissed the back of his hand. “So, instead of warning you to not hurt Pidge, I'm going to warn her.” He turned to his sister, “Pidge, my lovely sister, if you ever hurt your beautiful husband here, just know that I have no qualms about disowning you and taking Hunk as my new little brother.” He grinned at them, “I'm kidding! I'd already taken Hunk as my little brother years ago,” Pidge rolled her eyes. “In all honesty, though, I'm really glad that you've found someone to spend your life with, Pidge. You always seem happy around him and I hope that continues throughout your entire marriage.” He raised his glass, “to your happiness.” Everyone lifted their glass before either taking a sip or downing the entire glass (in Lance's case). 

———

After a somber Maid of Honour speech from Romelle and a heartfelt speech from Sam, it was the best man's turn. 

Lance stood up after Romelle sat down, raising his glass to her and downing it again. “Thank you Romelle, Sam and Matt for those beautiful speeches,” Lance smiled to them. “To everyone else, you’ve already heard this a millions times and I know both Hunk and Pidge will be thanking you again before the night ends but I'm going to say it again. Thank you all for joining us in this special occasion. There comes a time in every man's life where he meets that special someone, their soulmate, you could say. The person who will understand them and be there for them for their entire life! Hunk met this special person almost 18 years ago back when he was 12. Me. Hi, I'm Lance, Hunk's best- well, now-second-best friend and best man, and as best man it is my job to embarrass Hunk as much as I can in one speech.” 

Hunk hung his head in his hands, “oh god.”

“It was a great honour being chosen as Hunk's best man. I mean, if he didn't I would have just about killed him, but that's not the point. So after realising that the best man has to write a speech I went on the internet for inspiration and boy did I find some good stuff! And then I remembered I was supposed to be looking for best man speech tips. The first tip was to introduce yourself and how you and groom met. Hunk and I met back when we were both 12 at the garrison. After meeting for the first time, we were inseparable. For six years we were best friends. Until we met ‘Pidge Gunderson’ and were hurtled into space in a giant blue mechanical lion. Did you know that I was the one who realised that Hunk had a crush on Pidge first? Yup. I caught him up at like three in the morning making peanut butter cookies on the Castle of Lions. And after that- boom! Promoted to second-best friend.”

“The next tip said to tell an embarrassing story of the groom and, boy, it was hard trying to pick just one!” Laughter filled the room. “I think the best story was when we were around 14 or 15. Hunk was trying to ask this girl out and I was being his wingman. So this girl had really long, red hair- it's important to the story. He was talking with her while I was waiting nearby so I could jump in if he needed help. As he was talking to her, a giant cockroach crawled into her hair. Hunk noticed and instead of saying ‘there's a huge roach in your hair’, he screamed ‘you've got a giant cock in your hair’ and smacked her on the head.” The guests burst out laughing, Pidge included, while Hunk went red and covered his face with his hands. “Let's just say that this girl _didn't_ go out with Hunk.” This started another round of laughter. 

“This is the part of the speech where I'm supposed to give the couple some advice, but, I've never been married, surprisingly-“ Keith barked a laugh, which made all of the paladins and a couple other guests laugh-“so, _Keith_ , I'm only going to say that I hope you two stay as intelligent, generous and passionate as you are now.” He refilled his glass and raised it, “to Hunk and Pidge, I wish you many years of happiness and love.” The guests raised their glasses as well as he toasted to the couple.

———

A few hours later, most of the guests had left, only the paladins had stayed. They were all a little drunk, especially Lance, who was currently trying to cuddle Keith. Pidge and Hunk were dancing, Pidge had her arms wrapped around his neck and he had his hands on her lower back. The DJ had gone home about 30 minutes ago, but Shiro was playing music on his phone as loudly as he could. 

There was a loud honk from outside and Keith slid Lance's arm around his shoulders. “That's our ride, see you guys,” Keith waved to Shiro and the newlyweds and dragged Lance away as he tried to yell at them to use protection.

Shiro turned to Hunk and Pidge, spinning his keys on his finger, “come on, I'll take you home.” 

———

Hunk fiddled with the keys to the hotel room that they were staying at while on Earth. He managed to open the door and Pidge grabbed his hand and pulled him inside. He shut the door and dropped the keys on the table. Pidge giggled as she pulled him to their bedroom door. He stopped her just before the door.

“What is it-“ She squeaked as Hunk lifted her up bridal-style -she was the bride after all. She started laughing, “What are you doing?” 

“What? It seems right.” He opened the door with his foot and walked into their room, shutting the door with his heel. He placed Pidge on the bed and she pulled him down into a kiss.

[I think you can guess where this leads to and I'm not going to write that! I hope you enjoyed!]


	3. i'm celebrating the death of my sleep schedule and sanity. want a cookie?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Hunk? It's 4am, why are you baking a cake? And what's with all the party decorations and candy?”
> 
> He looked over and grinned, a little loopy. “I'm celebrating the death of my sleep schedule and sanity. Want a cookie?” He asked, lifting the plate to her.

“You'll be the death of me, you know that, right?” Hunk told Pidge as she dragged him through the halls. 

Pidge rolled her eyes, “you're being dramatic. It's barely 2.”

“Yeah, in the morning.“ 

“Oh, shush. You're just weak,” Pidge teased as they entered the small room that Pidge used as a lab. She didn't turn the lights on, but instead switched her fairy lights on. Hunk hummed, raising his eyebrows, “oh, shut up. I bought them at the space mall, I didn't bring them from home.”

Hunk laughed, raising his hands in defence, “I didn't say anything.” Pidge pouted, her cheeks turning pink. He chuckled, “cute.” Pidge went even redder. “So, what's the plan for tonight?”

Pidge went around him and grabbed her laptop. “I wanted to take a look at the ship's defence systems and maybe even upgrade them.” She sat down in one of the swivel chairs, wheeling the other one to Hunk with a kick.

“And you couldn’t do that during the day because...?” Hunk grabbed the chair before it could roll out of the room and sat down on it, pushing himself over to his girlfriend.

“You were working,” she opened the laptop and pulled up their defence system.

“Then why didn’t you get me to help you earlier? Everyone finished work at 8.”

Pidge gave him a sly grin, “I wanted to cuddle with you first.” Hunk blushed and pulled the laptop closer, getting started on the system check.

———

Both Hunk and Pidge lost track of time as they busied themselves with upgrading the defence systems. At around half past 3, however, Hunk's stomach started to grumble.

He lifted himself out of his chair and Pidge looked over, “where you going?”

“Getting a snack.”

“Ooo, get me something too. And a cup of coffee.” She turned back to the laptop as Hunk left, the door shutting behind him. 

———

Before Pidge realised it, 30 minutes had passed and Hunk still wasn't back from the kitchen. Had he gone to bed? Pidge sighed, stretched, and made her way to the kitchen. She half-expected to see Hunk asleep at the kitchen counter, but instead, she saw Hunk standing by a frosted cake, a plate of cookies and a bowl of candy. He was surrounded by decorations and he was eating the cake with a fork. 

“Hunk? It's 4am, why are you baking a cake? And what's with all the party decorations and candy?”

He looked over and grinned, a little loopy. “I'm celebrating the death of my sleep schedule and sanity. Want a cookie?” he lifted the plate to her.

She laughed and walked over to him, taking a cookie and grabbing the fork off of him and eating the cake off the end. She put the fork in the sink and took his hand, pulling him out of the kitchen and down to their bedroom. She pushed him into the bed and crawled in after him. She pulled the covers up over both of them and cuddled close to Hunk. He kissed the top of her head and wrapped his arms around her. She hummed happily and snuggled into his warmth.


	4. i have a bad feeling about this

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Uhh, you almost done Pidge?” Hunk shot at the three nungulls, taking a few steps back to shield his teammate better.
> 
> “Almost,” she said through clenched teeth, “just a few more ticks.” Hunk grunted as the nungulls fired at him. “Almost… come on… done!” Hunk turned to her, his shield slipping a little as he did so. Burning agony erupted from just above his hip and he cried out, dropping to his knees and pressing his hand against the wound. “Hunk!” Pidge cried out, running in front of him and summoning her shield.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: this chapter contains blood, gore, nausea, descriptions of pain and descriptions of first aid like stitches. Please do not read if you do not like these things!
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not know anything about first aid! This was all second hand information or guessing. 
> 
> Both my sister and brother had a huge stack while riding their bikes on gravel and my sister had to get stitches. This and rhinocio's comic on tumblr helped me come up with this chapter. Sorry this chapter didn’t come out sooner- I was in the country for a few days without internet.
> 
> Enjoy!

Her bent legs took most of the impact as she landed on the piece of asteroid. Her jetpack spluttered to life as she jumped away. The massive ship in front of her was close, just a few more asteroids and she’d be there. She heard a grunt and turned to her teammate. Bits of rock came apart from the asteroid as he jumped off it. The jetpacks on his yellow and white suit turned on. She turned back towards the ship, heading towards the closest rock to propel herself closer.

She hit the side of the ship with a small huff. The shoes of her suit stuck themselves onto the outside wall. She turned to her teammate, who had just landed on the ship next to her.

“Won’t we trigger the alarm?” He asked.

She shook her head, “I was able to disarm the alarm for a few doboshes so we can get on without being detected. I just hope they don’t notice, I didn’t have enough time to make it look like nothing had changed.” She held her arm out in front of her and pulled up a screen. She turned back to him, “you ready?”

“Can you go over the plan again?” He bit his lip and fiddled with his hands, obviously nervous.

She rolled her eyes and quickly said, “the Nungull race didn’t join the coalition. They had no reason to refuse the invitation. All representatives at the coalition believe that they have plans to attack and take over vulnerable planets. We are to get in the ship, get the plans and get out.” He nodded once, “now come on Hunk! We need to get inside before the alarms are back online.” She turned to go to the entryway for ships when Hunk put his hand on her shoulder.

“Wait, Pidge.” She turned back to him. He pressed his forehead -well, his helmet- against hers. “I still have a bad feeling about this.”

Pidge slid her arms around Hunk’s neck. She felt his arms wrap around her middle and pull her closer. She buried her face in his neck, “we’ll be fine. We have the Atlas as backup.” She pulled away, but Hunk’s hands lingered on her stomach. He swallowed and pulled away, following her to the entryway for the ships. Pidge pulled up a screen and typed away on it until a small hatch opened. She crawled through it into the ship easily and Hunk just managed to squeeze through before Pidge closed it behind him and they snuck out of the ship bay.

Pidge pulled up a map of the ship she had managed to grab from a passing message she had intercepted. “We need to get on the next level,” she whispered to Hunk. He nodded and ran ahead, pressing against the wall as a guard walked past. Pidge copied him, whispering directions to him as she looked at the map. They reached an elevator and took it up to the next level. When the doors opened, they ran out and Pidge directed them to the control room. Hunk opened the door and shot wildly with his gun. He managed to hit the two robots that were working the controls. 

Pidge ran up to the controls while Hunk opened a hatch by the door and fiddled with the wires until the door shut and locked. He ran over to her. She was bent over the controls, quickly downloading as much information as she could onto the chip on her suit.

“Come on, come on,” she whispered as it reached halfway. Both Pidge and Hunk jumped as pounding started on the door. Hunk summoned his shield and pointed his gun at the door, shielding both Pidge and himself from whatever was behind it. The banging stopped for a moment before something threw itself at the door, crashing through it. Three nungulls ran into the room, stepping all over the robot that had crashed through the door and was now lying, broken and still, on the ground.

“Uhh, you almost done Pidge?” Hunk shot at the three nungulls, taking a few steps back to shield his teammate better.

“Almost,” she said through clenched teeth, “just a few more ticks.” Hunk grunted as the nungulls fired at him. “Almost… come on… done!” Hunk turned to her, his shield slipping a little as he did so. Burning agony erupted from just above his hip and he cried out, dropping to his knees and pressing his hand against the wound. “Hunk!” Pidge cried out, running in front of him and summoning her shield. When he brought his hand away from the wound it was red and wet. He felt a wave of nausea pass over him at the sight of blood. He felt faint and was shaking. Pidge was trying to talk to him, but he couldn’t focus on anything but the pain. Black spots appeared in his vision. He saw a nungull grab Pidge and force her arms behind her back before his vision went completely dark.

———

When he woke up, it was cold and damp and his side was throbbing. His hands were handcuffed together at his wrists and were in his lap. Pidge was curled up against him on the opposite side of his wound. She was shivering and Hunk could see she was in matching handcuffs. Hunk moved so he could hold her tighter. Bad idea. Agony tore through his side and he gasped loudly. Pidge jumped and looked up at him. 

“Hunk?” He grimaced in pain. “Oh god, your side. Right.” She shifted and pressed against the wound which made Hunk hiss. “Sorry.” Hunk tried to relax and sat against the wall. Wait. This wasn’t the control room.

“Where are we?” 

“Some sort of cell. After you passed out, they brought us here. They said someone would come in soon to check your wound.” She peered at said wound by his hip and cringed.

He bit his lip, “it’s bad, isn’t it?”

Pidge nodded, “yeah,” she breathed. “It needs stitches and it’ll get infected soon if we don’t do something.”

“You’re not hurt, are you?” Hunk asked. His eyebrows furrowed as quickly looking over with as little movement as possible.

She shook her head, “I’m fine other than a couple bruises, but that’s pretty normal. You protected me,” Pidge threaded her hand through his- a little awkward because of the handcuffs- and smiled at him. He tried to smile back, but it ended up more like a grimace.

“What about the-“ he was cut off by the door opening. A small, fluffy alien walked in, flanked by two tall nungulls. 

“Hello.” The fur-covered alien nodded to them. She walked closer to Hunk, one of the nungulls closing the door. Pidge moved in front of him, baring her teeth and making a noise that sounded close to growling. She simply rolled her eyes, “stars above! You’d think I was trying to court him!” Pidge blushed at that. “I’m trying to help you.” Pidge pursed her lips, but made no indication of moving.

“Pidge, it’s okay. It’s only going to get worse if we do nothing.” Hunk reached out and rubbed her arm, biting the inside of his cheek when his wound throbbed in protest. Pidge glanced back at him before moving out of the way, kneeling next to him but keeping her hands clenched into fists. 

The alien came closer and one of the nungulls stepped forward, raising his gun in a threatening way. Pidge narrowed her eyes at him before looking back at Hunk and the small alien that looked like it was made out of fluff. The alien was tiny, she would probably only come up to Pidge’s hip- Pidge was her height just kneeling. She was also really fluffy, with a huge platinum blonde mane and short chocolate brown fur that covered everywhere else. She had a long tail that dragged on the ground with a puff of blonde hair on the end and her back legs were the same shape as a cat’s. But that wasn’t the strangest thing about her, she had six eyes, two that were yellow and four that were light blue. Well, the nungulls did have four eyes, but they looked completely different from this tiny puffball with their smooth reptile-like skin and long, long limbs. Though, the alien was dressed in the same sort of robe-like clothing that all nungulls seemed to wear, though it was much shorter and the sleeves stopped at her elbows 

“Lift your arms up.” The alien peered at Hunk’s wound as he followed her instructions. She talked to herself in a language that Pidge couldn’t understand and, based on the nungulls’ expressions, she guessed the guards couldn’t either. One of the nungulls, the one who hadn’t raised their gun threateningly, stepped forward and peeked over the alien’s shoulder. “I swear to the stars, Ray if you don’t let me have some space while I do this, I will throw you into a black hole.” Ray quickly took a few steps back.

The alien peered at the wound for a few more moments. “Coco, take Ray and get me my big bag.” She said without looking away.

“But, Kyla, we can’t leave you here without a guard,” Coco protested. “I’ll go get your bag and Ray can stay here.”

Kyla sighed and her head snapped to look at them, “Coco. I also need a cloth and a bucket of water. I need it now. Besides, what could these two do to me? The big one can barely move and the small one won’t try to hurt me.” She turned back to Hunk and waved them off, “go, go, go. The longer we wait the harder it is to treat him.” Coco narrowed his eyes but turned and stalked out of cell, Ray following close behind.

When the door shut behind them, Kyla whispered something under her breath that Pidge was sure were swears in the language she was talking in before. “You’re lucky, you know?” She said to Hunk.

“I am?”

She nodded, “a finger across and you’d be dead.” She said it so calmly.

Hunk visibly paled and Pidge squeaked as she said, “dead?”

“Yup. Straight into the intestines.” Kyla made a gun with her hand and made a noise as she pretended to shoot it at a spot about an inch across from Hunk’s wound. Hunk looked like he was about to throw up and Pidge had a shocked expression on her face. If Kyla noticed, she didn’t show it.

The door to the cell opened and Coco walked in with a satchel on his shoulder, Ray close behind with a deep bowl of water and a cloth on their arm. Kyla clicked her fingers and held her hand out, “water. Cloth.” Ray handed her the bowl of water and draped the cloth on her arm. She gave them to Pidge with, “I’ll tell you when to use it,” as her only explanation. Coco handed her the bag when Kyla held out her hand again. She rifled through it until she pulled out a jar of some sort of liquid and a small square of thin cloth. She undid the jar’s lid and dipped the cloth into the oil-like stuff. She reached out with it towards the wound and said, “this will hurt,” before pressing it against the dried blood. Hunk screeched in pain before quieting down and hissing through tightly clenched teeth. His hands- still cuffed and resting on Pidge’s shoulder -were clenched into fists. Kyla pulled her hand away before placing it back on the wound a couple times before kneeling next to him and pulling her bag close. She put down the now stained red cloth down next to her and when Hunk spotted it he paled. Pidge rubbed his shoulder awkwardly, her hands were still cuffed and she was still holding the bowl.

Kyla looked irritated as she looked through her bag. “Would you two stop watching me!” She snapped at Coco and Ray. Ray jumped and half hid behind Coco. 

Coco rolled his eyes, “we’ll be outside. Call if you need help.” He turned and left the room, grabbing Ray’s long, thin arm and yanking them out.

Kyla turned back to Hunk, now with a jar of cream in her hand. “This will kill any bacteria,” she explained as she applied it to the wound. Hunk cried out and Pidge rubbed his arm in sympathy.

“Jesus, don’t you have any anesthetic you can give me?” He gasped.

Kyla dipped her finger back in the jar before applying more, she almost seemed bored. “I do, but it’s so strong you’d most likely go under and never wake up.” 

“Oh.” 

Kyla rubbed the last of the ointment into the open wound and put the lid back on the jar. She pulled a stiff string, a pair of small scissors and a pair of tweezers out of her bag as well as another cloth. She handed the cloth to Pidge. “Put this in his mouth.” Hunk swallowed before opening his mouth and Pidge put it in his mouth. He bit down on it and looked away from Kyla. Kyla shifted and hovered over his wound. “First one.” Pidge looked away from Kyla’s paw-like hands, instead looking up at Hunk’s face. That was a mistake. His face was twisted in pain, eyes shut tightly and jaw clenched around the cloth. His groaning and cries were muffled by the cloth. He relaxed very slightly when Kyla finished the first stitch, but then she started the next one. 

Kyla finished the second stitch and reached over Hunk’s lap and took the cloth from Pidge, dipping it in the water and wiping Hunk’s forehead. Pidge understood and took it from her. 

When Kyla finished a little while later, Hunk looked close to passing out from pain. She packed up her things before pulling out another jar of cream and roll of bandages. She covered the stitches with the cream and wrapping the bandages around Hunk’s waist, covering the stitched up wound. Pidge dipped the cloth in the water and squeezed most of the water out of it before dragging it across Hunk’s forehead. Kyla put the jar and bandages back in her satchel before standing up and shrugging it over one shoulder and stretching her arms out. Pidge took the cloth out of Hunk’s mouth and put it in the water with the other cloth before handing the bowl to Kyla. Kyla took it before turning to the door and knocking on it. The door opened and Kyla left without looking back or saying anything.

Pidge narrowed her eyes at Coco as he shut the door. She turned back to Hunk, his eyes were shut and he was breathing deeply. She cupped his face in her hands and rubbed her thumb across the corner of his mouth before kissing his cheek and murmuring to him about how well he did.

———

Pidge managed to fall asleep for a couple hours before being jolted awake when their cell door opened again and two new nungulls walked in, Coco close behind. The taller of the two new nungulls grinned.

She bowed, “welcome to my ship. I hope you have enjoyed your stay.” She smirked and Pidge wanted to punch the hard plate that covered the back of her head and the bridge of her nose. “My name is Tic. I am the leader of the Nungull race. This is Pem, my son-“

“-Daughter,” Pem butted in.

Tic narrowed her eyes at her, “right. My daughter, Pem.” She turned back to Pidge and Hunk and flashed her sharp, yellowing teeth. “We’re here to get some information.”

“We’ll never tell you anything,” Pidge snapped.

Tic narrowed her eyes, her grin widening. She snapped her fingers and Coco stepped forward, grabbing Pidge’s suit and lifting her up off the ground until her feet were dangling. 

Hunk paled, “Pidge!” He leaned forward, grunting when his side ached. He noted that it didn’t hurt nearly as much as it did before.

Pidge bared her teeth and kicked out with her legs. Coco dodged and punched her in the stomach.

Hunk looked horrified, “Pidge! No, no, no! Please don’t hurt her, I’ll tell you anything you want. Just don’t hurt her!” 

“No… Hunk don’t…” Pidge gritted her teeth from the pain.

Tic leaned down to look Hunk right in his eyes. “What ship could we easily overpower that is a part of the coalition?”

“With a ship this big and about 20 fighter ships- the Atlas. Voltron’s gone and they only have four skilled fighter ships.” Hunk hung his head. Tic grabbed his hair and forced him to look at her.

“Where would we find the information about the planets in the coalition?”

Hunk faltered. Coco slapped Pidge across the face, making her gasp in pain. “The control room. But it’s the most guarded room in the Atlas. You’d need a handprint from one of the crew to get in.”

Tic raised an eyebrow, well, the muscle where her eyebrow would be if she had hair raised. “So if I got one of your handprints, I could get in?” Hunk eyes widened in horror. “Perfect!” Tic let go of his hair and stepped back, clapping her hands together. “Coco, let go of her. Pem, come with me.” Coco dropped Pidge and Hunk crawled over to her, gathering her in his arms and cradling her, ignoring the throbbing in his side. Coco and Pem left with Tic, leaving the two ex-paladins alone. 

Hunk turned his head from the closed door to Pidge. Her face was buried in his chest and he panicked that she was hurt. “Are you okay?”

Her shoulders shook and when she lifted her head, tears were streaming down her cheeks, “Hunk, I’m so sorry.”

“What? Sorry about what?” He furrowed his brows and cupped her cheek, brushing a tear away with his thumb.

“For not believing you when you said you didn’t have a good feeling. For not protecting you.” Her voice was hoarse. She placed her hand over the one that was cupping her face and turned her face into it. “I’m sorry you got hurt.” Her voice broke. She gritted her teeth and shut her eyes tightly as she sobbed.

“Hey,” Hunk cupped the other side of her face with his other hand, “hey, look at me. Breathe,” Pidge looked up at him and took a few deep breaths, tears still falling. “It’s going to be okay. Okay?”

Pidge shook her head, “it’s not! You’re injured, we’re in a cell, we don’t have our helmets or weapons, and without them we can’t call the Atl- wait a second.” She froze. Tears dripped off her chin onto his chestplate, running off the smooth metal and onto his thighs.

“What is it?” 

“Shut up, I’m thinking.” Pidge’s eyes widened, “take your chest plate off.”

Hunk blushed, “what? How does that help us?”

“Just do it!” Pidge snapped. He popped his chest plate off and Pidge grabbed it, turning it over so the inside was facing up. She felt around blindly on the surface before finding and opening a hatch that couldn’t be any longer than her pinkie finger. 

Hunk’s eyes widened, “what is that?”

Pidge shushed him, “it’s a emergency communicator that I put in our suits in case we were ever in a situation like this,” she whispered, “I put them in back when we were paladins. I forgot about them, actually.” The tears had stopped falling and her face was starting to dry. Hunk moved closer and placed his finger where she instructed him to. After hunching over and fiddling with the communicator for a few minutes, Pidge finally got it to turn on. “Yes!” She grinned. “Okay, now I just gotta…” She pulled up a screen and connected it to the communicator. She awkwardly typed away with her handcuffed hands for a few moments before managing to broadcast a message to any ship in this or the next solar system, but keeping it shielded from the ship they were currently on.

“Calling all and any ships or planets in the Voltron Coalition. This is Pidg- Katie Holt and Hun- Tsuyoshi Garrett, the former Green and Yellow paladins of Voltron. We are currently being held prisoner on a Nungull ship by Tic, leader of the Nungulls. We request help from all or any that are willing to help. This is Katie, former Green paladin, signing off.”

Pidge finished and broadcasted it. She sighed and leaned against Hunk’s chest. She looked up at him, “how’s your side?” 

“Better,” he replied truthfully, kissing her forehead. Whatever Kyla had put on his wound had really worked. Much better than anything they had on Earth. 

She smiled, much calmer than she was 10 minutes ago, “that’s good.” She moved over so she was leaning against the wall and crossed her legs and closed her eyes, resting her head on Hunk’s shoulder. Hunk looked down at her and smiled, pressing another kiss to the top of her head and sliding his arm around her shoulders.

Pidge had almost drifted off when a voice came from the communicator.

_“Calling former paladins of Voltron, Katie and Tsuyoshi. This is Takashi Shirogane.”_

“Shiro?” Pidge leaned forward away from Hunk.

_“Pidge?”_

“Omigod- Shiro! Thank god! Are you calling from the Atlas?” Pidge pulled Hunk’s chestplate closer.

 _“Yes, is Hunk there?_ ”

“Yeah, I’m here.”

_“Good, you’re both there. Are you hurt? Where are you?”_

“We’re on that Nungull ship you wanted us to infiltrate. And I’m fine, but Hunk is hurt. He got hit with a gun on his side.” 

_“Holy shit. Are you alright?”_

“Yeah. Some alien on the ship treated me with something. It doesn’t hurt nearly as much as it did.”

 _“That’s good.”_ Shiro paused for a moment and they heard quiet talking in the background. _“Okay, good. Pidge, Hunk? We’re going to bring the Atlas to you. Okay?”_

“Yes! That’s great! They won’t be expecting it. Just note that they have a lot of fighter ships, so it would probably be best if you didn’t send out our fighter pilots. They could get trapped easily.”

 _“Okay. We’ll call back when we’re close. Shiro signing out.”_ With a click, the communicator shut off. 

When Pidge turned to Hunk, he swore she had never looked prettier- except maybe on their wedding day. Even with the tear tracks down her cheeks and hair sticking out all over the place, her overjoyed and hopeful expression made Hunk’s heart swell.

“I love you,” he blurted out. Pidge stopped in her tracks for a moment before she smiled and gazed at him lovingly with tears in her eyes.

“I love you too.”

————

When the Atlas attacked, everyone knew. The ship shook and the power shut off, all of the lights turning off, their handcuffs falling off and the door to their cell opening. Of course, when this happened, both Pidge and Hunk were ready, pressed up against the wall as they waited for Coco and Ray to run in. When they did, the two paladins jumped on them, leaving them unconscious in their cell. 

Using the light from Pidge’s suit, they made their way to the room where their bayards and helmets were being kept. They slid their helmets on and grabbed their bayards, Hunk letting his disappear into his suit while Pidge activated hers. Pidge helped Hunk limp to the hatch they entered from, Hunk hissing in pain when his wound scraped against the metal.

When they managed to get into the Atlas after dodging flying rocks and ships, the fight was basically over. Tic had escaped with a few other high ranking Nungulls and guards in an escape pod, and Pem had surrendered to the coalition. When Pidge and Hunk were found by Curtis- who was frantically running from the observation deck to the engine room- he took them to the med bay immediately. Pidge was separated from Hunk, even though they both protested, and was taken for a check over. Once treated for a sprained wrist and given food and water and a change of clothes, she was taken to a meeting with Shiro, Krolia, Sam, Colleen (she demanded she join them) and a few other members of the coalition. As soon as Colleen saw her, she wrapped her up in her arms and gave Pidge her jacket, even though Pidge was perfectly fine in her tee-shirt and jeans.

In the meeting, she gave them the chip she had stored in her suit and showed them what she had downloaded. Halfway through the 3 hour long meeting, they brought Pem in. The Nungull had agreed to joining the coalition and giving them the information they wanted. 

Straight after the meeting, Pidge said goodnight to Sam and Colleen and made her way to the room Hunk was being held in. He was sleeping when she walked in, but he woke up when she dragged a chair to beside his bed.

He hummed, “hey.”

“Oh, hey. Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.” She sat down and Hunk shifted so he was leaning on his elbow on his side. She noticed, “isn’t your side hurting?”

“No, it’s actually mostly healed. It’s going to leave a scar though.” 

She threaded her hand through his and rubbed his knuckles with her thumb. She looked down at their hands and at the small scars that covered them from years of working with tools and years of fighting as paladins. Hunk looked down at their hands before bringing hers to his lips and kissing the scars that ran along the back of her hand. Hunk put her hand back down and shifted over in the hospital bed, patting the spot next to him. Pidge crawled in and pulled the covers up after kicking her shoes off. Hunk laid down and Pidge rested her head on his chest. She placed her hand on his chest and Hunk noticed the brace on her wrist.

“What’s that?” He pointed to it.

“Oh, I sprained my wrist.”

“Aww, Pidge.” He frowned and kissed her sprained hand.

She rolled her eyes, “it’s nothing. You got shot in the side.”

Hunk shushed her and held her closer, “‘m tired.” He closed his eyes and buried his face in her hair.

“M’kay... I love you.” 

She felt Hunk kiss the top of her head, “love you too.”


	5. the universe doesn’t need us anymore

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He looked back up at Pidge, “I miss Yellow as much as you miss Green. But I don’t need her anymore. The universe doesn’t need her anymore.” He placed a hand over hers, “The universe doesn’t need us anymore.” He said it so quietly Pidge could barely hear him.

_It was warm. Almost warm enough to be uncomfortable. But it felt safe. He felt protected. It felt familiar, though he couldn’t figure out why. He opened his eyes to yellow fur. He buried his face in the soft hair. It smelt like the dirt after it rains, an earthy, comforting smell. The lion purred under him and he felt the strong, loving licks against the back of his head. The rhythmic strokes of the lioness’ tongue seemed to remind him of something… someone…_

_He lifted his head from the lion’s shoulders, where his head was buried in the gold tinted fur. The lioness was calmly looking down at him and he gazed into her yellow eyes. She lifted her strong jaw and placed it on top of his head, purring and sending vibrations down his body. Tears started falling down his cheeks and the lioness stopped purring. She pulled her head away and pressed her wet nose to his cheek. He wrapped his arms around her huge head, tangling his fingers in her fur. He couldn’t stop crying, sobbing uncontrollably and shuddering dangerously. The lion tried to comfort him by nuzzling his cheek with her own. He pushed his face into her neck._

_“Why did you leave me, Yellow?”_

_The lion pulled away and looked down at her sobbing, shaking cub._

_“We weren’t needed anymore.”_

_His face scrunched up as more tears dripped off his chin, “I need you, Yellow.”_

_The lion mrrowed with laughter. “That’s a lie and you know it, my cub.”_

_He buried his face in her soft neck fur. “I miss you.”_

_“I will always be with you. I’m so proud of you, my sweet cub.” He felt her tongue on his head again before his hands started to slip through her body, the feeling of her fur on his face fading until she was gone and he was alone._

 

Hunk opened his eyes and he was back in his bed. He rolled over to wrap an arm around his wife, but her head wasn’t on the pillow. Hunk sat up on his elbow and looked up at her. She was sitting up in bed, looking over at the window. She wasn’t moving except for her wide eyes blinking and her chest raising and falling with her breathing.

“Pidge? What are you doing?”

She didn’t even acknowledge that he said anything, keeping her gaze on the window out to space. Hunk followed her gaze.

It was dark, pitch black with the only light coming from the thousands of stars that littered the sky. There were two shooting stars, was that what Pidge was looking at? His breath hitched when, instead of flying in a straight line, the two shooting stars started to spin around each other in a spiral. When Hunk looked closer, he could see that the shooting stars were different colours, one green and one yellow. They were moving like they were alive. The green one shot forward, the yellow one speeding up and flying in a spiral around the other. The green one made a sharp turn, flying up and up until the yellow one followed and spun up to it. Both of them slowed down and a deep purring filled Hunk’s head. Tears welled up in his eyes, threatening to spill over.

Without taking her eyes off the two shooting stars, Pidge whispered, “Hunk? Is that…?”

Hunk swallowed over the lump in his throat, “I… I think so…”

The quiet was broken by a sob, Pidge covering her mouth to try and stop the sobs from escaping her throat. She was trembling and, as Hunk gathered her in his arms, he realised he was too. Without taking their eyes off the window, the former Yellow and Green paladins held each other tight as tears dripped down their cheeks. They clutched at each other in silence, the only noise was their quiet, muffled sobs.

Suddenly, without any warning, the two traveling lights glowed brighter than before, it hurt Hunk’s eyes, but he couldn’t tear them away. A warm, comforting presence settled over them. Then, as quickly as they had glowed brighter, the yellow and green lights dimmed until they disappeared into the darkness of space. Hunk swore that, just before the yellow light disappeared and the presence left, he heard the familiar voice of Yellow.

_“Stay safe, my cub.”_

————

“I had the strangest dream last night.” They were sitting at the long table with the other chefs that lived on the ship eating breakfast. There were about four different conversations going on across the table.

“Really? So did I,” Hunk was sitting across from Pidge, a spoon dangling above his bowl in his hand.

“What was it about?” Shay asked from a little way down the table. Balmerans didn’t dream, at all, and after Hunk told her about them she was completely fascinated with them, asking everyone almost every morning if they dreamt and- if they did -what it was about.

“Well, first it was about the Yellow lion. She was there and I was talking with her. Then she disappeared and I was in bed and Pidge was there and she was sitting up looking out the window. So I looked out the window and there were these two shooting stars but they were yellow and green and they were spinning around each other. Then Yellow told me to be safe.” Hunk put his chin in his hand.

Pidge was staring at him, her eyes wide and mouth open wide. Her spoon fell out of her hand, clattering loudly against the table. “No way, no _fucking way_.”

“What?” He lifted his head from his hand.

“No! You’re messing with me!” Pidge stood up, leaning on the table with one hand and pointing accusingly at Hunk with the other. “Was Yellow a real lion?”

“Well, yeah. She’s a real lion in all of my dreams about her.”

“Holy I had the exact same dream last night! Hold on, were the shooting stars moving around like that scene from Wall-E?”

Hunk’s eyes widened, “ _exactly_.”

Pidge’s jaw dropped, her hand coming up to cover it. “Do you… do you think it was the lions?”

“I dunno… maybe. But didn’t they leave like five years ago?”

Pidge shrugged, “it _felt_ like Green.”

“It felt like Yellow… maybe they came back to check on us or something...maybe they have new paladins.” Hunk sounded sad. Pidge sat back down in her chair, staring down at her bowl.

Shay looked very confused. “Wall...e? New paladins…?” She mumbled to herself.

“...Maybe…” Hunk looked back at his bowl.

————

Pidge was still thinking about the dream when they went to bed that night. She was lying in bed, staring at the ceiling as Hunk got dressed into his pyjamas next to her. 

“Do you really think the lions have new paladins?” 

“Hmm?” Hunk looked up at her, he was in his pyjama pants and didn’t have a shirt on.

Pidge turned her head to him, “wouldn’t the lions get _us_ if Voltron was needed?”

“I…” Hunk paused. “I don’t know…” He looked away, grabbing his shirt and pulling it over his head.

Pidge sat up, pulling her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. “I mean, it’s not like they only have one paladin forever, but… the paladins before us had been dead for 10,000 years when we met the lions.” 

Hunk sat on the bed by her toes, the mattress sinking under his weight. “Does it really matter? We aren’t paladins anymore.”

Pidge buried her face up to her nose in her crossed arms. “It matters to me.”

Hunk’s face softened and he gently lifted her chin with a finger. “As much as I hate to say it, the lions don’t need us. Last night… I… I don’t know what that was.” He looked down at his hands. “Maybe it wasn’t the lions. Maybe it was and they have new paladins, or maybe they don’t. The lions are giant magical, sentient, robot cats from a planet that was destroyed until-“ he caught himself, “-until a few years ago that fuse together to become a giant robot man… I don’t know enough about them to predict what they’re going to do.” He looked back up at Pidge, “I miss Yellow as much as you miss Green. But I don’t need her anymore. The universe doesn’t need her anymore.” He placed a hand over hers, “The universe doesn’t _need us_ anymore.” He said it so quietly Pidge could barely hear him. 

Pidge broke down as the realisation finally set in. The universe didn’t need them anymore. A whole range of emotions hit her like a truck; pain, anger, hurt, longing, sadness, _relief._ She wasn’t needed. She could live her life how she wanted, she didn’t have to be ready to go fight in another war. She didn’t have to be ready to drop everything and search the universe for her family. She wasn’t expected to be ready to kill someone anymore. As the relief hit her, the tears started, pouring down her face with no indication of stopping anytime soon. Strong, warm arms wrapped around her, holding her as her head jerked back uncontrollably. 

When the tears and shudders stopped what felt like hours later, Pidge felt exhausted but better then she had in years. She felt lighter and she realised that even though she had started a new life, she’d never actually stopped being ready to become a paladin again. She had always been ready to leave it all behind to jump back into her lion and fight against some evil alien. It had always been in the back of her mind, silently influencing her decisions.

Hunk shifted slightly and Pidge moved and made a noise to show he could let go. He loosened his grip around her and Pidge looked up at him. She gave him a watery smile and he smiled sadly back. He got up and changed his shirt as it had a big wet patch from Pidge’s tears. He passed her one of his hoodies and she put it on, it reached her knees and and went far past her fingertips. Hunk held his hand out and Pidge took it. He silently led her out of their room and down the dimly lit hallways till they reached the kitchen. 

He picked Pidge up by her waist and put her on the kitchen counter. He turned around and started making something. As Pidge waited, she brought her knees up to her chest, pulling the hoodie over her legs. She pulled the hood over her head and crossed her arms around her legs, resting her chin on her knees. When Hunk turned back around with two mugs in his hands, he chuckled at her burying herself in his hoodie. She scowled at him and moved her legs so they were crossed, holding her hands out for the mug. He gave it to her and she looked down at it. The mug was topped with a mountain of whipped cream and chocolate chips scattered over it. She smiled and took a sip of the hot chocolate, humming happily after she swallowed and quickly taking another sip. Hunk leant on the counter, drinking from his cup as well.

In between sips, she asked, “did you use the last of the chocolate chips for this?”

“Yeah…” he looked away shyly, “you seemed like you needed it.” 

Pidge smiled, taking the final sip before setting the mug down and grabbing the collar of Hunk’s shirt, pulling him down to her and pressing her lips against his. When she pulled away, she didn’t open her eyes, resting their foreheads together instead. He laughed through his nose before kissing her nose and pulling away. He took another sip of his drink before setting it on the bench next to Pidge’s mug. He moved in between Pidge’s legs and slid his arms around her waist. She slid her arms around his neck and he picked her up and wobbled out of the kitchen back down the hallways and into their room. He set her on the bed before lying down next to her. Pidge turned to him as he pulled the covers over them. She threaded her fingers through his and kissed him again, his stubble itching her chin. She rested her head in the crook where his neck met his shoulders.

“Thanks.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ew that ending was gross
> 
> good news: matt's going to be in the next chapter


	6. i just don’t have it as hot as the fiery pits of hell. you heathen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Come on. If you’re quick you can join me in the shower.” He winked at her.
> 
> Pidge laughed, “like I would have a shower with you. You always make the water freezing.”
> 
> “I do not! I just don’t have the water as hot as the fiery pits of hell. You heathen,” he teased. She laughed again, gently shoving him, her hand on his bare chest. He chuckled, sneaking a kiss on her cheek before retreating to the bathroom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all of the kudos!
> 
> Hello my children. Whelp I tried. It was cute in the beginning but I just ended up making it into a meme. 
> 
> This will most likely be the last chapter of this story. I still love Hidge and I'll be posting more Hidge stories (mostly AUs) I just don’t have the motivation or time for more of this story. I’ve run out of ideas that are long enough for a chapter- I really struggled to finish this one. It's been sitting there for about a month and a half, unfinished and mocking me. This is unedited, I don’t think I could read it again, so I’m sorry for any mistakes.
> 
> Anyways, if you actually read that and my stories- thank you!

Hunk peppered kisses all over her neck and collarbones. Pidge laughed through her nose, tilting her head back and entangling their legs together under the covers. Early morning sunlight streamed through the shutters, painting stripes of light across the room. Pidge hummed happily as Hunk brought his kisses back up her neck and jaw, ending their morning cuddle with a slow kiss to her lips. He lifted himself up onto his elbow, gazing down at Pidge’s face. He smiled and she gazed up lovingly at him. 

“Okay, time to get up.” He pecked her lips before rolling out of bed.

Pidge groaned, snuggling deeper into her pillow. “Nooo. Stay in bed. Five more minutes…”

Hunk rolled his eyes, “you said that ten minutes ago.” Pidge pouted, but held her arms out. Hunk grabbed her hands and heaved her out of bed. “Come on. If you’re quick you can join me in the shower.” He winked at her.

Pidge laughed, “like I would have a shower with _you_. You always make the water freezing.”

“I do not! I just don’t have the water as hot as the fiery pits of hell. You _heathen_ ,” he teased. She laughed again, gently shoving him, her hand on his bare chest. He chuckled, sneaking a kiss on her cheek before retreating to the bathroom. Pidge followed him and brushed her teeth, fixed her unruly curls before going back to her room and getting dressed in the strengthening light and heading downstairs. 

Matt was already up and dressed, no surprise there- he was an early riser, but Nova wasn’t with him. He was always up before the sun, his species didn’t need nearly as much sleep as humans did. Matt wasn’t facing Pidge.

“Where’s Nova?” Matt didn’t move or even stir. He mustn’t have his hearing aid in. She tapped him on the shoulder and he turned to her.

 _‘Where’s Nova?’_ She fingerspelled Nova’s name, forgetting the sign they had come up with for him. 

“Out.” Matt pointed to the front door and Pidge nodded. 

Pidge pointed to her ear and said, slowly so Matt could read her lips, “hearing aid?”

Matt scrunched up his nose and shook his head, “it’s upstairs. I don’t want to wear it.”

Pidge crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. Matt sighed before getting up and going upstairs, purposely stamping his feet. Bae Bae, who had been lying beside him, heaved herself up and followed him. She was a lot older now- almost eight years old. Pidge jumped when someone behind her asked, “where’s he going?”

“To get his hearing aid. He wasn't wearing it.” Pidge turned to Colleen. “He knows I don’t know much ASL.”

Colleen smirked before walking over to the coffee maker in the kitchen, “then you should learn more. Hunk seems to be doing fine.”

Pidge scowled, “Hunk had an Aunt who was deaf. He’s had he whole life to learn how to sign. I’ve only had, like, seven months.”

“Eight months.” Colleen corrected, stirring milk into her cup of coffee.

Pidge huffed, “whatever. Anymore coffee left?”

Colleen hummed, picking up the coffee maker and swirling it around, “about a cup.”

“Good,” Pidge moved around her mother and reached for a cup from the cupboard above her. She stood on her tiptoes and stretched her arm up as far as it would go, but she still couldn’t reach the cup. Colleen reached over her and grabbed it for her, holding it out for her. “Thanks,” she grumbled, snatching it from her and filling it with coffee. In the end, it wasn’t a full cup, but after Pidge added cold water and sugar, it came close to the rim. 

Matt came down a few moments, fiddling with his hearing aid as Bae Bae carefully made her way down after him. Around eight and a half months ago, Matt was in an explosion at the Galaxy Garrison. No one knew how or why the explosion happened and there was huge investigation to see if anyone was undercover and was sabotaging the Garrison’s work. In the end, they found out that two students had been fiddling with a ship and had accidentally spilt some fuel, the fuel had caught fire and the engine exploded. Matt was almost right next to ship when it exploded, his right eardrum exploded, leaving him deaf in one ear and having to wear a hearing aid in the other. The right side of his face was scarred, but luckily his eyes hadn’t been damaged or hurt in the explosion. When Pidge had heard about Matt’s injuries, she flew to Earth as soon as she could, using the wormhole Sam had managed to figure out.

Matt walked over to the coffee table and picked up the mug that he’d left on it, tipping it back and swallowing the last few drops of coffee before rinsing it and putting it in the dishwasher. Pidge walked around the kitchen island and sat down on one of the stools while Matt leaned against the counter on the opposite side.

“You’re up early,” he commented, “going somewhere?”

“As a matter of fact, I am.” Pidge lifted her chin, bringing the cup to her lips. “Hunk and I are meeting up with Lance and Shiro.”

“Oh, yeah. How is Lance?” Matt asked. 

“Yes, is he doing any better?” Colleen was leaning on the counter as well, finishing the coffee in her hands.

Pidge smiled and nodded, “we talked with him and Keith a few days before we came here and he was doing a lot better. Keith’s really helped him through all of this…” She put her coffee down and gestured vaguely with her hands, “... _hurt_.”

An arm snuck around her waist and she leaned back into Hunk’s warmth, placing a hand over his. He hummed his agreement. “Keith’s been helping him, though. I still can’t believe he didn’t tell us…”

“I still can’t believe I didn’t notice,” Pidge mumbled, looking down at their hands and running her fingers over the gold band on Hunk’s finger. Hunk slid his fingers through hers and squeezed her hand. She looked up at him and gave him a small smile. He leaned down and gently kissed her.

Matt stuck his tongue at them, “stop being so mushy! I don’t like seeing you like this, Pidge.”

Pidge put a hand on her hip and raised an eyebrow at him, “what? In love?”

“Yes! It’s weird!”

Pidge laughed, turning to face Hunk and roughly pulling him down to kiss her by his collar. Matt scrunched up his nose.

“Oh, please! You and Nova are no better, Matt,” Colleen smirked and he blew a raspberry at her. “Though you two should probably leave soon if you want to be there on time.”

Pidge sighed, “you’re right. You all ready to go, big guy?”

“Do we have to leave now? We haven’t even had breakfast yet!”

Pidge rolled her eyes, “we can get something on the way. You know it takes a while to get to Lance’s and I want to spend as much time as I can there.”

Hunk sighed, “okay.”

“Great! Just let me get my stuff,” She turned and ran upstairs, Hunk asking her to get his stuff too. She came down a few minutes later with a bag slung over one shoulder. Colleen wasn’t there, she must’ve gone to the bathroom, and Hunk and Matt were signing to each other. It was too quick for Pidge to process and she noticed that they were using quite a few signs she didn’t recognise. She frowned, “ready to go?”

Hunk turned around to her, “hmm? Oh, yeah. Let’s go. See you Matt!” He scratched Bae Bae under the chin.

Matt smiled and waved, “bye! Have fun!”

—————

Hunk drove. Well, he had no choice. Pidge couldn’t drive. She didn’t have a license. It’s not like she hadn’t tried, it’s that, after moving ten feet, she panicked and slammed on the brakes. Of course Pidge, the girl that was able to fly a giant robot lion at the age of fourteen, couldn’t drive something as simple as her father’s old Volkswagen.

It didn’t long to get to the Galaxy Garrison, getting into a ship with Shiro taking even less time. A perk of being an ex-student of the Garrison and an ex-paladin of Voltron was that instead of having to fly in an airplane, they could just take one of the ships to Cuba. 

—————

Pidge climbed out of the taxi, Hunk close behind. Shiro thanked and paid the driver before getting out as well. Pidge grabbed her bag and skipped up to the door, pressing the doorbell. A few moments later, Lance opened the door. When he saw who it was, his face brightened.

“Lance!” Pidge leapt into his arms and he wrapped his arms around her.

He laughed, “hey Pidge! Long time, no see, huh?” Pidge punched him playfully in the arm, grinning.

Hunk came over to the pair, grinning as well, “hey Lance.”

The Cuban let go of Pidge to hug Hunk and Shiro. “Hey guys!” He pulled away, “come on in.” The three followed him into the house. He stopped by the stairs to yell out, “Keeeeith! They’re here!” He grinned at the others as a door upstairs opened and shut and Keith came down the stairs.

“Hey guys,” he smiled at them. 

Pidge grabbed his wrist and yanked him down the last few stairs, “come down and give us a hug already!” She pulled him into a tight hug before Hunk took over. Keith laughed and pulled away, but was then dragged into another hug from Shiro.

Keith squeaked in surprise and Shiro laughed, “what? Thought you could get away with not giving me a hug?” Keith scowled and pushed him away, but there was a smile on his face.

He was almost knocked over when Lance leaped at him. The Cuban has his arms wrapped around Keith’s shoulders, but Keith looked less than pleased to receive the hug. “Lance… what are you doing?”

Lance pouted, “I was feeling left out. Everyone was getting a Keith hug but me!” Keith sighed and pushed him away.

“Let’s go into the kitchen, I think Lance made something. Did you?” Keith started to walk towards the kitchen and the rest of them followed.

“Uh, I did! But I thought we would eat it on the beach…” 

“Oh, right. You guys did bring swimsuits, right?” Keith asked.

While Pidge and Hunk nodded, Shiro froze. “I was supposed to?”

“Yeah… I said that we’d go to Varadero beach,” Lance furrowed his brows, “did I?” Hunk nodded and he sighed in relief.

“Oh no… I forgot,” Shiro sighed through his nose as he ran his hand through his hair.

“It’s alright. You can borrow a pair of mine. Lance got them for me but they’re too big,” Keith raised an eyebrow at Lance.

“I thought you had bigger hips!” Lance protested.

“We have the same pant size!” Keith shot back before shaking his head and sighing,” it doesn’t matter. You can borrow them, Shiro.”

Shiro smiled, “thanks.”

Pidge blinked at them, “so can we go to the beach now?”

Lance grinned and nodded, pumping his fist into the air, “yeah!”

—————

“I think this is a good spot,” Pidge said, setting down the bag and looking up at Hunk, who was carrying a surfboard under on arm. He nodded and set the board down on the sand. She called Shiro over and he set up the beach umbrella in the spot Pidge instructed him to. Lance dropped his surfboard next to Hunk’s while Keith walked over with a bag of food in one hand and his shoes in the other. He had a towel over his shoulders, which Lance snatched and laid out on the sand. He looked out at the sea and grinned. 

He nudged Hunk, “come on, I think some good waves are coming in.” 

“Sure!” Hunk grinned at him and then turned to Pidge, “you’ll be fine if I-“

“Yes! Go, have fun!” She waved him off. 

He smiled and grabbed the board, racing off after Lance, who was already in the surf. Keith huffed a laugh as he watched them, hands on his hips. 

Pidge grabbed his arm and pulled him down onto her towel, “get here.”

“Hey!” He protested, “what are you doing?”

Pidge grabbed a bottle of sunscreen, “you’re paler than me.” [“Gee thanks.”] “We need to get you all sunscreened up before you burn.” She squirted some on his back and he squeaked at the cold. She shushed him and rubbed it into his back. “Lift up your hair.”

Keith looked back at her over his shoulder and grinned, “I can do you one better.” He leaned over and pulled his long, dark hair up into a ponytail. 

Shiro cleared his throat and they looked over at him, “I’m going to go for a walk. I’ll be back in a little bit.” They both nodded and Pidge turned her attention back to applying the sunscreen.

Pidge went to rub sunscreen into his shoulder blades but froze and blinked at the two purplish marks that were in between them. “Hey Keith?” She said it slowly.

“Yeah?”

“Why do have these purple…” She searched for the word, “dots on your back?”

“Hmm? Oh! Yeah, those. Uh, it’s some sort of Galra thing.”

Pidge started to apply sunscreen to the rest of his back and shoulders, “Galra thing?”

“Yeah. Um, Galra live a lot longer than humans, but they also have their own kind of… puberty…”

“Oh! Oh. So you’re going through Galra-puberty.”

“Uh… yeah…” Keith scratched the back of his neck. Pidge had finished putting sunscreen on his back and was starting on her own.

“What’s the difference? Between human and Galra puberty, I mean.”

Keith rolled his eyes, “I know what you meant. Uh, well, my teeth are getting sharper and I’m getting all of these purple marks that look like bruises and my hair and nails are growing really fast.”

“Really? Can I see the marks?” Pidge leaned forward.

“Sure,” Keith pulled his legs up and lifted up the fabric of his swim trunks a few inches to show her. There were small purplish dots that littered his upper leg, the dots ranging from the size of her thumb fingernail near the top of his thigh to barely a millimeter near his knee, getting smaller as they went down.

“Wow. Do they hurt?” Pidge looked back up at him. Keith shook his head so Pidge stuck her hand out and poked one of them. She looked back up at Keith again to gauge his reaction. Nothing. “Hmm, guess they don’t.” She leaned back and went back to rubbing sunscreen into her arms. She turned around, “can you do my back?”

“Yeah. Sure.” Keith shifted so he was kneeling. “You really aren’t fazed by this at all?”

Pidge shrugged, “I mean, dude, we’ve seen some crazy shit. I’m more surprised that you aren’t going like full Galra- like with all the fur and big animal ears.”

Keith laughed, “I doubt I’d get all that. My mom looks pretty human, actually.”

Pidge hummed in agreement and looked over at the ocean just in time to see Lance get wiped-out. She laughed, “I think your boyfriend just flopped.”

Keith followed her gaze and smirked, “I think your boyfriend just did as well.” Both Hunk’s and Lance’s boards came up before they did, looking at each other before bursting out laughing.

Pidge gasped dramatically. “Excuse me. Hunk is my husband.” She lifted her hand to show him the ring.

Keith rolled his eyes, “right. Sorry.”

“My ears are burning- you guys talking about me?” Lance strolled over with his board under his arm, slicking his wet hair back with the other hand.

Pidge smirked, “you wish.”

“We were talking about you wiping out,” Keith said.

“Oh come on! It wasn’t that bad- Hunk wiped out too!” Lance put his hand on his hip.

“What?” Hunk came up next to him.

Lance shook his head, waving his hand, “it doesn’t matter.”

Pidge grinned, “sure.”

“Oh shut up!”

“Language Lance!” Shiro walked over, holding something in his hands.

“Why is everyone ganging up on me?” Lance whined.

Hunk put a hand on his shoulder, “I’m not, I still have no idea what’s happening.” 

Lance shrugged his hand off and put his board down. He sat down next to Keith and looked at his hair. “Did I ever tell you you look hot with your hair up?”

“A couple times.” Keith said.

“What are you guys doing out of the water so fast?” Pidge asked.

Hunk put his surfboard down as well and sat next to her. He shrugged, “apart from that one big one, there’s no really good waves to surf. Also I was getting hungry.”

Pidge laughed, “you’re always hungry. I’m up to eating now. What about you guys?”

Lance shrugged, “Sure.” Keith nodded so Lance turned and grabbed the bag of food. 

“Hey, Shiro, whatcha got?” Hunk asked.

Shiro smiled and sat down, holding his hands out. In them were a couple shells, “shells. I found them on my walk.” 

“Ooh, they’re pretty.”

“Yeah. I think I’m going to give them to Curtis.” He looked down at them, turning one over.

“Oh, nice. How is Curtis? I didn’t see him at the Garrison this morning.” Hunk asked.

“Yeah. Aren’t you two getting married soon?” Lance asked.

Shiro nodded, “Yeah. May 15th. Curtis is fine, he just didn’t want to go to work really early to just have to go back home straight after.” He explained.

Lance passed them all the separate containers of food and they all dug in. Pidge took a bite and moaned, “I always forget how much better food on Earth is!”

“I know right!” Lance said, “I forgot how shit space food is.” 

“It’s not that bad,” Keith protested.

“Yeah, I thought you liked my cooking,” Hunk frowned.

“Of course I do! But nothing can beat good old Earth food, “Pidge said between bites.

————

Lance screeched as Pidge pushed him off Hunk’s shoulders into the water. His head popped out of the water a few moments later, shaking the water out of his hair. 

Pidge laughed, hi-fiving Keith, “five in a row!”

Lance stood up. “That’s it! It’s time for a swap.”

————

Lance, now on Keith’s shoulders, cracked his knuckles and held out his hands, palms facing Pidge and Hunk. “Ready.”

“Yeah, yeah. Just wait a sec.” Pidge shifted on Hunk’s shoulders. “Hands,” she told him and he lifted his arms. She placed his hands on her thighs, “hold on,” she told him.

She lifted her hands to Lance and the round started… then ended. Pidge gave Lance a hard shove and both he and Keith fell over into the water.

“Yeah! Double kill!” She joked.

Lance jumped up. “No way! Pidge, you’re getting on my shoulders.”

She shrugged, “okay.” Hunk leaned down and she slid down his back and climbed onto Lance’s shoulders. Keith got onto Hunk’s and… Pidge barely came up to his chest. Pidge pouted.

Keith grinned, “this will be easy.”

Pidge narrowed her eyes and shoved his chest. He squeaked in a very un-Keith-like way as he tipped backwards and fell into the water. 

————

They had to go back to shore a little while later so Pidge and Keith could reapply their sunscreen. When they came back to the towels, they found Shiro snoozing under the beach umbrella. Of course, both Pidge and Lance’s minds went straight to how to use it to their advantage, but their partners told them off before they could do anything.

Pidge flopped back onto her towel, “it’s so hot.”

“Do want to get some ice cream?” Hunk asked.

She sat up, “I’m always a slut for ice cream!”

Hunk blushed and helped her up. “You guys want anything?”

“Mint choc-chip.” Lance said.

Keith turned to him and scrunched up his face, “really?”

“Yeah. What’s wrong with mint choc-chip ice cream?” Lance put his hands on his hips.

Keith shook his head, “it doesn’t matter.” He looked up at Hunk and Pidge from where he was sitting on his towel with Lance, “surprise me.”

Hunk raised an eyebrow and looked at Pidge, who just shrugged. “O-kay. We’ll be back soon.”

——————

“Aww, jeez. It’s melting,” Hunk brought the melting ice cream cone up, licking up the drops that were melting down his hand.

“What’d you get again?” Pidge asked, licking her own ice cream.

“Uh, vanilla.”

She rolled her eyes, “right. The most boring flavour.”

“Excuse me! You got pistachio!”

“Hunk, pistachio ice cream is God. Vanilla is like the basic bitch of ice cream.” She lifted her chin and an eyebrow.

Hunk pouted. “Vanilla’s the best flavour…” he mumbled.

They made their way across the sand, careful not to drop the cones they’d gotten for the others. Pidge was following Hunk and almost ran straight into him when he suddenly stopped.

“What are you guys doing?”

Pidge peered around him to see both Keith and Lance patting sand into a mound that covered Shiro from his toes to his chest. 

“...burying Shiro…” Keith answered.

Pidge grinned, “you almost done?”

Lance spotted the ice creams and jumped up, “gimme gimme.” He took his from Hunk and started licking it. Keith smiled and sat back on his heels, dusting his hands off. Pidge passed his half melted cone of strawberry ice cream to him. 

_“What the fuck?”_ All their heads turned to Shiro, who was sitting up with sand falling off him.

————

Pidge leaned back against Hunk’s chest, trying to get as close to him as she could. Now that the sun was setting, it was really cold in only a swimsuit. She grabbed his arms and pulled them around her.

He chuckled, “cold?”

“Yeah! Good thing you’re like a personal heater,” She snuggled into him.

“Do you want to go back?” He asked. Keith, Lance and Shiro had gone back to the house a little while ago. Hunk had offered to go with them, to help them with dinner, but Pidge and Lance had told him to stay.

She shook her head, then thought for a moment. “Soon. I just want to stay with you for a little while longer.”

He laughed, “we spend everyday trapped on a ship together and yet you still want to stay here with me instead of the others.”

“We don’t usually get to be alone.” 

Hunk smiled, but said nothing else. He watched the sky turn red for a few minutes before looking down at his wife. She was intently watching the sunset, her face lit up by the sun. He could see her freckles and could see a faint smile on her lips. His heart fluttered. He was totally and absolutely in love with her.

“I love you,” he blurted out.

She tilted her head and looked up at him. She smiled, “I love you too.”

Hunk smiled back and she turned so she was facing him. She cupped his face and kissed his forehead before pressing their noses together. When she pulled away, he could see pure joy and adoration in her eyes.

And he knew that she was totally and absolutely in love with him.


End file.
